Second Chances
by 017Bluefield
Summary: What if you could get a second chance? With nowhere else to go now that his mission has failed, Silas gets an unexpected shot at redemption - from the very same person he was ordered to kill. A speculative Fire Emblem Fates fanfic. Hoshido/Birthright route.


**Author's Note** : Just my take on how the Avatar for _Fire Emblem Fates_ can possibly recruit Silas in the Hoshido/Birthright route.

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own _Fire Emblem Fates_.

* * *

The cherry blossoms continued to fall around us.

"…"

"…"

Silas didn't talk. Kind of hard to do when you have a sword's point _one inch away_ from your throat.

"Corrin!" "Brother!" Tsubaki, Hinoka, and Sakura ran over.

"Stand back," I ordered. "Let me deal with this."

"But—"

I glanced at them, and Hinoka took a step back. I guess I looked pained.

After all, my best friend had been ordered to execute me. And he had failed his mission, my sword now at his throat.

 _"Please,"_ I said—partly begging. If I had to put him down, I didn't want anyone else to do it.

Tsubaki swallowed. "…Understood."

Nodding gratefully, I turned back to look at Silas, who was still on the ground.

"Well?" he managed, staring up at me. "Aren't you going to finish me off?"

"That depends," I said. "What happens to you if I let you escape?"

"I return to Nohr, where His Majesty with see fit as to have me executed."

I sighed. The king never was… _lenient_ with his punishments. "Just for failing one mission…"

…ugh.

I'd already made the hardest decision of my life. But that didn't mean I was ready to make _other_ difficult choices.

This I knew: my best friend was ready to die, either here or there.

And I…dammit, I didn't _want_ that, and I knew he didn't, either.

Then it hit me.

I pulled my sword back, driving it into the ground beside me. "No."

Silas blinked. "What?"

"No," I repeated. "No, I'm not going to kill you. And no, you're not going back to Nohr. Especially if it means your execution."

"But then—"

Hinoka likely realized where this conversation was heading, even if she didn't want to believe it. "Brother, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying"—clear as day—"that I'd like Silas to join me."

"What?!"

"Corrin," Tsubaki warned. "If Ryouma—"

"Yes, I know he will be. And I _will_ talk with him about it."

Turning back to my friend, I asked him, "What do you think?"

"What?"

"You can't go back to Nohr and expect to see another battle—another chance to change things. And Fa—King Garon—I'm sure that he sent you on your mission knowing you would fail."

* * *

Sakura turned to her other elder siblings. "The ruler of Nohr… He would really…?"

"Corrin seems to know that man's true colors," Tsubaki muttered. "Better than any of us would, at least.

"I only hope he's right about this 'Silas'," Hinoka stated. "Otherwise…"

She needn't have worried.

* * *

I was almost speechless. "So then… He knew I wouldn't be able to bring myself to…"

"I suppose. Unfortunately for him, he likely forgot something important: I'm not the 'ideal child' he wanted. I'm not the 'perfect weapon' he strove to make me. I'll be honest: _I_ couldn't bring myself to kill you, either."

I looked up at Lord Corrin. "But…why? Sir, didn't Lord Xander once tell you to never yield? Never show mercy?"

Then he did the last thing I expected, all things considered: he reached out his hand to me. "That's where I differ from both King Garon and…Xander," he said. "If I die a kind person, then I can die happy. And I don't want people dying just for being kind. That's why I'm asking you not as your former lord, Silas, but as your friend: will you join me in this fight?"

I took it in—my lord and long-time friend, asking me to join his cause after a half-hearted attempt on his life. Asking me to join a cause to the people I was to believe were enemies.

Hm… Even now, Lord Corrin was a surprisingly forgiving soul.

I looked to Corrin's siblings. Even as they looked at me with suspicion and even some fear, they also shared something with their long-lost brother. Some unnamed quality that I always saw in Corrin over the years.

Maybe…not all Hoshidans are as horrendous as I once believed.

I sighed. "…I suppose some things never change… All right." I nodded, and reached up to grab Corrin's hand. "From here on out, I shall fight for you, Lord Corrin."

"Not _for,_ Silas," Corrin said, smiling as he pulled me to my feet. " _Alongside._ "

The cherry blossoms continued to fall around us.


End file.
